This week I flew to Portland to see my father and other family members. I flew Alaska Airlines on the way up from SFO. Returning earlier today I flew Horizon (which has been owned by Alaska since 1986) into Oakland.
Two things made the flight pleasant. First, complementary beer and wine were served; second, the in-flight snacks were edible miniature bruschette. After years and years of crap snacks dusted with too much salt or sugar, the plain and delicious simplicity of Horizon's snack was a relief.
I was set to laud Horizon as my personal aviation surprise of the year, but then a creaky, frustrating annoyance materialized. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the airplane occupying our intended gate slot to move on. And then, once our Bombardier lumbered up to the gate, there was a jetway malfunction that swallowed up another five minutes. I wouldn't want to charge Horizon with sole responsibility for either event, but frankly these last-minute disembarkation delays suck. Every frequent American flier I know has experienced the frustration of blocked gates at arrival. We need better scheduling at airports and an increase in tarmac passenger releases.
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